ok- i need your help- is it too cold to swim in january??

[papermoonpixie]

for some reason- this never crossed my mind while i was booking our shore excursions, but is it too cold to swim in january? we are doing the 3 night orlando 4 nights at sea package at the early part of the month.

i heard that the pools at the disney hotels are heated to a nice temperature, are the pools on the ship heated as well? and will we need to invest in wet suits to make it at nassau and CC?

TIA!

 

[atigeg]

This is inkkognito, posting under hubby's ID:

There is no easy answer...we sailed almost every January, and we've always been able to swim, but sometimes it's been a bit chilly. A lot depends on where you are from. We hail from Chicago, so to us "warm enough to swim" means something a lot different than it would for a person from a hot climate. The pools are indeed heated at Disney, but Nassau and CC may be iffy. The onboard pools are not heated, but there are hot tubs at the Goofy pool and the adult pool.
Barb

 

[papermoonpixie]

we live in NY, and the one time we went to WDW was in january of '01. we found it warm enough to walk around without a coat, but we didn't try swimming....now that i've spent a few winters here in NY, my concept of what is cold has definately changed from when i lived in NC. DH has a high tolerance for cold, and i know he used to go skiing in the winter and still use the hot tubs outside of the lodges (in the snow!!) so hopefully we can make use of the pools in orlando at least

to swim in nassau/CC- do you think a wet suit would make a big difference?

 

[tvguy]

This is inkkognito, posting under hubby's ID:
. The onboard pools are not heated, but there are hot tubs at the Goofy pool and the adult pool.
Barb

Anyone know for sure about the pools not beind heated? I thought the pools on every modern cruise ship were heated. I would be shocked to hear Disney didn't heat them.
We never found time to use the pools, but we were at Castaway Cay on January 2, 2004 and the ocean was plenty warm to swim in, so I don't know why the pools wouldn't be. And we have cruised in January in the past on other lines, and both the pools and ocean were plenty warm for swimming.

 

[skibum]

We were on the Magic last January (2005), and used the pools, and everybody went snorkeling at CC. Temp was a little cool at first, but you get used to it. I wouldn't worry about it.
Would a wet suit help - of course!
Have fun!

 

[aprilgail2]

If swimming is high on your list of really want to do's then I would not sail in Jan...The one time I cruised in Jan it was to cool/cold for us to enjoy ourselves...we sat on the beach with jackets and sweatshirts on....2 or 3 Jan's ago my friend went to Atlantis to stay for a week and he was SO dissapointed..he spent a fortune and it was downright cold...one day it was 40 degrees!! They had to go into town and buy sweatshirts to wear since they didn't bring any! I was also in Disney in Jan one time and it was to cool there to swim,.

 

[papermoonpixie]

i think we'll probably invest in wet suits just to be safe. i had read that the average temperature in nassau in january is 76 degrees, but i wasn't sure about the water temperature. i wish we could've tried for a warmer month- but alas, january was the only time i had a few weeks off for a long while... we got married in august but had to come straight home after the ceremony because of our schedules- so this will be our honeymoon

yes... definately wetsuits... they are somewhat slimming- right >

 

[poconoboatniks]

We cruised Feb 05 and found the water at CC to be somewhat cold. Only the kids and the brave of heart went in the water.

The pool water was fine for swimming.

Pocono

 

[tkd lisa]

I went in January 2003, and Nassau temps were in the low 70s, with CC also about that. The kids swam, but it was too cold for me! It was nice and sunny, but I learned from that trip that if I'm going in January, it will be a 7 day cruise, then I know it will be warm!

 

[HUFF590]

I felt the ships pool was to cold on our Christmas Cruise last year, but CC was very pleasant.

 

[tecdavidt]

When we have cruised in January the seas were on the chilly side in the Bahamas. We are from IA but I still need the water to be in the 80's and up to swim. Kathy

 

[lillygator]

we're from Fl and it would definitely be too cold for my thin blood to swim!

 

[Joyful!]

I am sailing on Jan 14th. Finding the sunken Mickey is on my 'must-do' list. I guess I should buy a wetsuit to be on the safe side.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We sailed in Jan. '01. It was OK to swim in the pools on the ship, the air was warm and the Mickey pool was somewhat warm.

We did the Blue Lagoon excursion and I wrapped myself in a beach towel and DH and DS (2 at the time) went in the water. Too cold for me!

Our CC day was awesome. It was in the 80's, but the water was still cool. Alot of people were getting stung by jellyfish.

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

We've never had a problem. Then again, perhaps we were having too much fun to notice the cold. My boys were 4 and 6 on our last January cruise and they never compained. I would say CC was the only place that we all mentioned the water temperature was chilly. Never noticed any problems in the pools or other islands.

 

[TheWog]

We swam at each port and each day on you January DCL cruise even CC. Water temps were great for us, but as mentioned above it depends on what you are used to. Have fun!

 

[RKB]

We went on the Western January 2004. And yes the water was cold!! We prepaid excursions so we gritted out teeth and jumped in with the stingrays at Grand Cayman. We did somewhat get used to the water after awhile, but getting in was a shocking experience. Then at Cozumel we swam with the dolphins. Our teeth were chattering, but we did somewhat get used to the water after awhile again. By CC I couldn't take it anymore and did not go in the cold water. My DS who was 10 at the time did go in and after awhile his lips started turning blue (he is very thin with no meat on his bones) so he didn't stay in for very long. So - yes - the water is cold in January - but we are also from Arizona so have thin blood as well...

 

[mruhaak]

I think there is a difference between a Western Caribbean in January and the Bahamas in January. From what I've been reading the Bahamas are more likely to be colder.

We took a Western Caribbean the 1st week of January last year and the weather was wonderful. I never recall being cold and I tend to get cold.

We are taking the 3 day Wonder this January and I am not banking on it being super warm. But I am sure it will feel wonderful to us either was as it is 18 degrees here in Iowa today.

 

[reses4]

I have just confirmed with disney that if the air temp drops below 75 degrees, disney will heat the pools onboard.

 

[papermoonpixie]

i think its definately going to be worth it to at least look into getting wetsuits. this has to be "perfect" since i don't know when we'll be able to go somewhere nice again for a long time...and with the mention of jellyfish- i think we really should go ahead and invest in them....